In A Galaxy, Far Far Away
by Capricornus152
Summary: The universe ends and the survivors of the USS Enterprise watch it all. Character deaths mentioned. Uhura-centric, Uhura/Gaila, McCoy/Chekov


**Title: In A Galaxy, Far Far Away**

**Pairings: McCoy/Chekov, minor Uhura/Gaila**

**Summary: The universe explodes and almost all life ends - Nyota Uhura and the survivors of the Enterprise have to witness this.**

* * *

Uhura really thinks that the shit's hit the fan now - not that the shit didn't edge dangerously and precariously close the fan on occasion before, but seeing the universe pretty much end right in front of you... yeah that's what the words "shit", "hit" and "fan" were morally invented for.

The crew's only half there, the crew who survived their crash landing onto Ahura Mazda VIII anyway - Spock and Kirk, they're dead and Uhura can't even comprehend that. Her voice, her mouth, her tongue - the tools of her trade, her best skills, her purpose - fail her. Her tongue is thick and terrified in her mouth.

Ahura Mazda VIII is only surviving the explosions around them because it's in its own weird geocentral orbit which means that it's not crumbling around them and dissolving into black holes. Chekov's probably got some cool, mumbled explanation for them but right now, they're struggling to maintain sanity without going into too-deep explanations for why the universe seems to be having a bit of a breakdown.

Fires from a million little worlds are lighting up the sky even though Uhura's wrist-scanner tells her that it should be nighttime here - in her mind's eye, she can almost here the infinite, endless screams of a billion billion citizens. The orbit here is breathable - oxygen-rich, full of plant life and water and deserts and oceans and it looks almost like Earth.

_Earth._

None of them's heard anything from Earth, a million light years away (or so it seems) and Uhura can't help but dig her nails deep into her palm and think of her mother and sister, back at home, maybe dying and screaming and burning and the rush of images floods her mind and-

"Here." She snaps out of her reverie, looks up to see Bones, stoic and scratched, holding out a plastic cup - one of the ones they give to patients in the medibay - full of water from some nearby stream.

"Thank you." She accepts it as he flops down next to her on the ridge they're looking out over. The _Enterprise_ crashed in some kind of foreign, alien jungle and Uhura's base camp is only a few hundred metres away.

"So... the universe is pretty much ending." Bones offers, dangling his feet over the edge of the cliff. He's sipping from a hip flask.

"So it'd seem." Uhura swallows her water down; it's easier than thinking about everything that's going on right now. Bones nods, sensing her mood.

"Well," Bones holds up his flask. His eyes are tired and red-rimmed and Uhura knows that he's been tending to the survivors, keeping them alive and healthy as much as a doctor, crashed on a terraformed, identity unknown planet with little supplies can do, "here's to the end of the universe."

Plastic knocks against the metal of Bones' flask and Uhura prays for them to die as well.

* * *

They manage to figure out the scale of the planet and its basic landmarks - Gaila calls one of the mountains, the 'Mountain of Small Hope'; Sulu names the jungle they're in the 'Mei Mei Forest' and Bones ironically (and somewhat drunkenly) christens a sea, the 'We're Fucked Ocean'.

Around the end of their first week, the fires continue to burn but the crew stop watching them. Gaila finishes crying and starts building some proper shelter from their wreckage while Scotty starts constructing... something. Bones gets Chekov to help him raid the medical bay for drugs and supplies. Uhura and Sulu explore the jungle and find a lot of edible, if not delicious animals which provide protetin (if they do wreak havoc on the taste buds).

No one really talks about the end anymore, because it might come any minute - Bones' cynicism is the staple now. Hell, he seems cheery compared to some of them. On the positive side (as small as that may be), the ill are getting better and the food and water are working some kind of miracle on their ravaged bodies.

"What are we gonna do, Nyo?" Gaila asks her one morning when they're getting a quick wash in one of the streams. Uhura stares at her, at how her green skin looks damn near healthy, even in these conditions. "I mean, we're surviving now, right? But... what about the future?"

Uhura snorts, pouring a handful of water over her hair. "There is no future, Gai." The water cascades down her back, cool and comforting. Gaila shoots her a look - even false hope is better than no hope.

* * *

One sunny afternoon (because after four weeks, the supernovas stop enough for a sense of daytime it seems), Uhura's scouting the nearby shores for fish or places to stay because the forest isn't exactly a brilliant location when she sees Chekov giving head to Bones.

Their uniforms are crumpled and creased and Chekov's head is bobbing up and down, his mouth stretched around McCoy's cock. Uhura's breath is catching in her chest because even though she's seen this sorta thing before, she's never seen it here, in this situation.

Bones is making noises like he's in pain (if Uhura didn't know better) and his hands are gripping tight in Chekov's wild curls. Uhura's conscience tells her that she shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be watching them but she doesn't care. Gaila would tell her to enjoy herself.

McCoy and Chekov are barefoot in the surf and Chekov's knees are soaked from the water coming in. The water is pink and the sand is turquoise and Uhura manages a mental chuckle as she wonders how they're going to clean their uniforms after this.

Bones comes with a cry and Chekov swallows deeply, fingers clutching Bones' hips and Uhura turns to leave. Out of the corner of her eye, as she walks from the scene, Uhura glimpses Bones pulling Chekov to his feet and kissing him soundly.

Uhura smiles and wonders how long this has been going on; more importantly, she thinks it's a sign that something like this can survive here.

* * *

A few weeks after, when they've adapted to the universe's new design (and Ahura Mazda VIII still hasn't fallen into a black hole or the gravitational orbit of a supernova-ing sun and burnt the whole place to a crisp), they receive a stray transmission from some farflung human colony.

It's crackly and mumbly but Scotty boosts the signal on their very basic transceiver and Chekov helps and eventually a looped message comes through the cosmos.

"_..is Alpha Centori Vessel the Echo, calling out to any and all available life transport..._". It's almost impossible to listen to but Sulu and Chekov hug, laughing and Nurse Chapel kisses a couple of her patients and even Uhura manages to smile. McCoy offers a stoic smirk and curls an arm around Chekov's shoulders.

"So, there's life out there." Gaila nods, ever the optimist. She and Chekov - they're the ones keeping the hope alive here. Uhura's too much of a pragmatist to ever believe that a little bit of hope will keep the survivors alive - even as their _de facto_ leader.

In the evening, when the transmission finally fades, Scotty sings them old Scottish lullabies that he'd learnt as a child and Bones shares the last of his booze. Sulu kills one of the strange wilderbeast creatures and cooks it.

And for once, Uhura allows herself to feel, for a moment, vaguely optimistic.

* * *

Four months into their somewhat-unwilling stay on the planet and their camp's moved to the beach near the Mei Mei Forest. The planet's terraformed all over and on the days when she can't be bothered to do anything remotely proactive, she and Chekov and Gaila lay down on the blue sand and watch the golden-blue sky as a dozen or so of the burning stars continue to glimmer.

One day, Chekov nearly dies and Gaila cries and Sulu slices the thing that attacked him open. Chekov had been looking through one of the jungles, trying to find and identify some fruit for them to eat without it, well, killing them. He gets attacked by this wilderbeast-hog-creature (which Sulu's wrist-scanner identifies as a Grulon, a native, indigenous pig) that's about seven foot tall. What a pig.

Bones stays by Chekov the whole time, using the last of their bandages and antibiotics and around what Uhura could guess to be 3am, she tries to make him get some sleep. He looks up at her with anger and hurt and most of all, fear. Bones is scared to his core.

Uhura nods and sits down beside him. She runs dark fingers through Chekov's curly hair and beside her, she can hear an almost inaudible noise from Bones - halfway between a sob and a choke.

Around an hour later, Uhura starts praying.

* * *

Chekov pulls through - the planet provides, it seems, to those who live there and the water and the fruit helps. Chapel checks the content and it's full of vitamins and antioxidants and basically everything that helps a healthy body: it's healthier than actually living on the _Enterprise_.

Within a few days, they're all breathing sighs of relief. Chekov spends the night in Bones' makeshift tent and pretty much stays there. Gaila and Uhura share a toast with Scotty and in the dead of night, Gaila kisses Uhura. Uhura doesn't push her back, just pulls open the 'door' to her tent and takes her to her bed.

She's done mourning for Spock and even for Kirk and everyone who'd been on the ship and not survived - Uhura has seen her future, living and leading on this world and she doesn't mind. Her desire for the great beyond is gone; her hope for whatever strange life with Gaila she has remains.

A year after they crash, Scotty finally rebuilds their video screen and mixes it with their transceiver. His skin is tanned and his hair longer and Uhura thinks he looks infinitely better for their sojourn.

Everyone's been changed here; Bones smiles a lot more, his arm around Chekov's waist. Chekov's paleness is tanned and his optimistic smiles are not strained with Romulan battles or Vulcan emissary meetings. Sulu looks happier and happier by the day.

They find a video message, a signal reaching out from across the cosmos: and it's from _Earth_.

Some Academy general is speaking and looks absolutely freaked out beyond belief when he sees Uhura and Scotty staring back at him. He tells them everything - Earth and a few other planets survived in the Andromeda Galaxy with minor damage. The universe has been reverting and restoring, Uhura theorises. Chekov's been teaching her some stuff recently and she kind of likes it.

"This is... Captain Uhura, leader of the survivors of the _USS Enterprise_." She feels pride swell through her, the mantle on her shoulders feeling solid and real for the first time. Everyone around is standing taller, prouder. They've survived. They've made it.

Captain Nyota Uhura and her crew, the proud survivors of what used to be the _USS Enterprise_ refuse the ride back to Earth. They're already where they need to be.

_Fin._


End file.
